Microsoft

Federal Trade Commission Weighs In On DRM – Gamers, Speak Up

Now’s your chance to tell the FTC how you feel about Digital Rights Management technologies – the Commission has opened up a comment form to the public. “All timely and responsive public comments, whether filed in paper or electronic form, will be considered by the Commission, and will be placed on the public record of…

By AJ Glasser Published January 8, 2009

Here’s Your 2009 Consumer Electronics Show Coverage

The 2009 Consumer Electronics Show officially kicked off today and our very own Mike McWhertor is feet down, hands-on at the show with an eye towards gaming do-dads, announcements and goodies. Even though we’re only one day into the show there has already been some interesting news shaking loose from the show. Here’s a break…

By Brian Crecente Published January 8, 2009

There Are 25 Million Copies Of Halo In The Wild

Yup, more from Robbie Bach’s supporting role during yesterday’s Microsoft CES keynote. While rappin’, he announced that since the release of the first Halo, over 25 million games in the series have been sold. That’s across all three games across both platforms, so we’re looking at an average of five million sales for each. Impressive!…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 8, 2009

Kodu CES Presentation Clip

Kodu is Microsoft’s crack at this whole user-generated content thing. Technically, it looks promising! But my Lord, XNA title or not, those visuals need some work.

By Luke Plunkett Published January 8, 2009

Free Gears of War 2 Flashback Map Pack Now For Sale

That’s Gears of War 2 Flashback Map Pack is now available on Xbox LIVE Markeplace. Remember that? The five maps are 400 Microsoft Points (US$5). Not a bad deal. These maps were supposed to be available for free only to those who purchased the game new at GameStop game retailers. Well, there the formerly free…

By Brian Ashcraft Published January 8, 2009

Microsoft Inch Further Up The LittleBigPlanet Bandwagon With Kodu

Remember last year, we brought word of “Buko”, an XNA title that Microsoft were quietly showing off which sounded suspiciously like LittleBigPlanet? Well it’s not quiet anymore, they just showed it during the CES keynote. Renamed “Kodu”, the game admittedly looks nothing like LittleBigPlanet. In fact, it’s not even really as much a game as…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 7, 2009

[Update] Halo Wars Demo Dated, Release Brought Forward

Microsoft’s Robbie Bach just announced during the company’s CES keynote that a demo for Ensemble’s swansong title, Halo Wars on the 360, will be made available for download on Xbox Live on February 5. What’s more, he announced that Halo Wars would be out on February 28, instead of the previously-announced March 3, bringing the…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 7, 2009

CES 09: Liveblogging Microsoft’s CES Keynote: Just The Games

Keynotes have changed. Microsoft’s 2009 CES keynote is being helmed by CEO Steve Ballmer, the first not to be delivered by founder Bill Gates. It’s also going to be light on video game content. That’s why we’re taking it easy this year. We’re expecting little more than some Halo-related announcements and word to drop on…

By Michael McWhertor Published January 7, 2009

Microsoft Dates PlayStation 3 Price Drop For Springtime

The PlayStation 3 will get a price drop in 2009. It just has to if Sony wants the console to keep up, install base-wise. Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg agrees and expects a cheaper PS3 within months. He tells Edge Online that Microsoft is planning on its console competition becoming more price competitive in 2009. Not really…

By Michael McWhertor Published January 7, 2009

Microsoft Planning “Significant” Cuts, Source Says Layoff Reports “Exaggerated”

Xbox 360 manufacturer Microsoft is reported to be jumping on the cost-cutting bandwagon, according to reports from CNBC. Said to be pursuing “significant” savings measures, spokespeople say that reports of mass layoffs are greatly exaggerated. Over the past week, reports from other sources, namely Fudzilla, pegged the Redmond giant as laying off as much as…

By Michael McWhertor Published January 6, 2009

New Ninja Blade Screens And Ninja Blade Facts

Microsoft has releases a storm of new Ninja Blade screenshots showing off just how silly Ryu Haybusa would look without the mouth piece of his Ninja Outfit. Sure the action looks intense and the enemies look immense…none of this matters when your main character looks like he rode the short bus to ninja school. The…

By Mike Fahey Published January 6, 2009

Gears 2 Should Be Fixed Later This Month

We loved Gears of War 2. Nearly gave it our game of the year award! But one thing we don’t like is that, for some people, the game’s online play is all screwed up. Epic are aware that it’s screwed up, have heard your shrieking, and have today responded. Posting on the company’s forums, Mark…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 6, 2009

Japan Getting Star Ocean 4, Resident Evil 5 Xbox 360 Bundles

Microsoft today announced two new Xbox 360 bundles for Japan: Star Ocean 4 and Resident Evil 5. Slated for February 19, the Arcade Star Ocean 4 bundle is priced at ¥24,800 (US$265) and comes with a Star Ocean 4 soundtrack and faceplate. The Resident Evil 5 bundle comes with a 60GB HDD, a 48 hour…

By Brian Ashcraft Published January 6, 2009

Microsoft: We’ve Sold 28 Million Xbox 360s

The Redmond giant and relative newcomer to the console wars revealed that it has sold over 28 million Xbox 360s since launch. Yes, that’s much more than the originals Xbox’s lifetime sales. In anticipation of next week’s NPD sales figures for the month of December, Microsoft’s director of product management Aaron Greenberg told the Los…

By Michael McWhertor Published January 5, 2009

Microsoft Denies It’s Using PlayStation Home To Virtually Hang Out

Despite reports to the contrary, Microsoft says that it won’t be using the PlayStation Home service to hold virtual meetings. It has all the virtual meeting solutions it needs, thank you very much, Sony. Microsoft reps tell CVG that a report from GAAP Web isn’t exactly accurate, plugging away that it has “fantastic Microsoft-developed products…

By Michael McWhertor Published January 5, 2009

Holiday Greetings From Penny Arcade, Nintendo, Blizzard and Others

I was out of town for the two weeks surrounding Christmas so despite my best efforts, I didn’t post all of the gaming greeting cards I received over the holidays. Here’s a round up of some of the best ones that made it to my door when I wasn’t home, including cards from David Jaffe’s…

By Brian Crecente Published January 5, 2009

Xbox’s Best Euro Christmas Ever

Gather round for a rousing bout of back slapping and carousing as the Xbox brand celebrates its best European Christmas season in six years, with 100% growth over last December. The press release is filled with quotes, specifically from the likes of Xbox’s Regional Vice President of Interactive Entertainment Chris Lewis, who could go on…

By Mike Fahey Published January 5, 2009

Last Year, Japanese Game Market Experienced Shrinkage

According to Famitsu‘s publisher Enterbrain, the Japanese game market is, like a frightened turtle, getting smaller compared to last year. But what was the biggest selling game hardware? Games? The data for 2007 reflects the period from January 1, 2007 to December 3, 2007. The data for 2008 reflects the period from December 31, 2007…

By Brian Ashcraft Published January 5, 2009

These Were The Most-Played Games Over Xbox Live In 2008

Don’t you go thinking just because it’s January we’re done with the “best of 2008” lists. Because we are so not. Latest comes courtesy of Microsoft’s Larry Hryb, and charts the years top Xbox Live games. First, we have the twenty most popular full-price games. Note the two games whose demos made the cut, but…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 5, 2009

What’s Microsoft Announcing At Its CES Keynote?

Next Wednesday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will kick off the Consumer Electronics Show with a keynote that will likely involve chairs being thrown and perspiration-soaked Brooks Brothers shirts. But what about product announcements? Um… It doesn’t sound like Microsoft is bringing much in the way of big guns, at least if Techcrunch’s report on details…

By Michael McWhertor Published January 2, 2009